So how long does the growth spurt last?
It depends on how you define the spurt. Like other guy posters, I grew in a true spurt over about 6 months - about 9 inches, from 4’11" to about 5’8", my mother’s height. It was mostly over the summer between 7th and 8th grade.
After than, I kept growing but not at a pace where you could see it when I was standing still (so my 5’4" sister always asserted ;)). By high school, I was about 6’ and added a couple more inches during, then finally grew one inch more in the middle of college to my present height. Given the heights of my family - especially on my mom’s side who I genetically resemble very strongly - this was no surprise; it was just the pace that needed to work out…
Do you have a sense of what his end height is likely to be?
My own son tends to resemble my wife’s side genetically - but she’s 6’1"!! He’s only 11 and is tall, but is not the tallest kid in class…for now. Fortunately there are a few other both-sides-are-tall couples in our town so he won’t, um, stand out…
It’s all individual. I don’t know whether it’s more awkward to be an early or late developer… I suppose it’s harder for girls to be early, and boys to be late. It must be hard for you to all of a sudden have such a young son who is looking so much more grown-up!
My sister was 5’2" when she got her period at age 12. Now at 19 years old she’s 5’10" - grew half an inch last year. My other sister and I reached our adult heights of 5’2" and 5’5" at age 14. I still have the exact same skinny figure I did in high school, with the big appetite and fast metabolism to match. I have been praying that it will slow down so I can gain some curves for 10 years now… Even close relatives can be so different. My sisters have filled out beautifully, damnit.
Is it possible for a woman to keep growing past menarche? I thought that as a rule, you stopped growing after you got your period.
That’s supposed to be the rule, but it happens all the time.
My sister was checked for an abnormalities - but she’s fine, she just got all the tall genes from both sides of the family and is growing later than average.
I always wondered about the growth spurt thing, I never had one. I moved up slowly and steadily until I reached 5’7" at age 15. Never had that awkward phase or anything. I might ask my brother about it, he’s had a couple of major growth spurts. (he’s 16 and about 6’4" now)
I did. We measured heights in my 6th grade class, probably about 6 months after I had my first period. I’m now 3.5 inches taller than I was then.
I grew about 12 inches during 9 months at roughly the same age. Awkward is the first thing that come to mind, because suddenly your parts are in different places than they were before. Ironically this really screwed me up for basketball - my knees were now where I used to put the ball on a dribble. After a time you grow into the new body.
Also, ftr, my daughter has definitely grown taller by a few inches since her first menstruation. I keep warning her that she won’t grow more and that her little brother will soon pass her by, but then I notice she’s gotten a bit taller.
I had a delayed growth spurt; at my high school graduation I was a scrawny kid barely 5’ tall. By the end of my freshman year at college I had reached my full height of 5’6". Unfortunately, due to the all-you-could-eat cafeteria I was also over 200 lbs.
Aww. You guys who kept growing are lucky. Wish I had a few extra inches.
I really needed it, though. I’m still short as it is.
I got my period at 12 and didn’t stop growing until I was 15. Now I’m 5’6" and content at that height.
I shot up during one summer, between 12 and 13 and then stopped. I remember when I left school in June I was like everyone else. Then when I came back in September I was 6 foot tall and my voice totally dropped.
This was odd, 'cause my brothers grew over time and my mother said, both of them had a horrible time with the voice changing. She said it took years for their voices to change completely and they would get teased about “squeeking” all the time.
Of course I was super thin. I shot up to six feet and was only like 125 or 130 pounds. Eventually I settled in around 140. I didn’t pick up any mass till I was 19 and started to work out with weights.
I also had very bad “growning pains,” that summer. At least that’s what my mum called them. She was a nurse, so I guess she’d know. My legs hurt so bad. She’d say “That’s 'cause you’re growing.” It stopped as soon as I hit 6’
It’s perfectly normal for your kid to lose his co-ordination and such. He’s got to work out how his new demensions fit in the world. And in addition to eating, his sleeping habits are going to change as well. So be prepared for that. Sometimes teens want to sleep more, sometimes they want to sleep less, that depends on the child.
My sister’s sons both had a lot of growing pains, too. My sister is 4’9" or 4’10", and she married a guy who was over six feet tall. Her sons had some pretty big growth spurts when they were teens, and their legs and knees hurt pretty much constantly.
And just about every teen will start getting up later, and going to bed later, no matter how much or little sleep he needs. Apparently, it’s biological.
I remember being that age and falling down a lot. I never hurt myself, I just started to fall-down-go-boom every couple of weeks. It certainly did feel like I expected my feet to be somewhere other than they were and that it was about the changing size of my body.
Wrestling class (several weeks in PE) at the beginning of 7th grade. I was the second smallest kid in the class at 5’ and 99 pounds.
Wrestling class (repeated) at the end of 7th grade. I was 5’6" and 135 pounds.
Gained 6" and 36 pounds in the space of about 8 months. Damn it hurt to grow that fast.
Slowed from there, reaching 5’10" in 10th grade and my full (present) adult height of 5’11" in 11th grade.
I had a good friend in college who went home after sophomore year, age 19,and returned in the fall FOUR inches taller. He had incredible stretch marks all up and down his back.
I was gonna mention that. I got stretch marks on the front of my shoulders and just below the belt on the front and back. They never went away, but they went from bright pink to the same color as the rest of my skin.
When one knee went bad at about age 30, the old orthopedic surgeon told me I had very bony knees. He said I almost certainly had Osgood-Slaughter Disease when I was growing. I still don’t know what that is, or if there’s anything you can do about it.